Musings on Daily Life in the Ancient and Early Medieval Mediterranean By Sarah E. Bond
Over at Hyperallergic, I have contributed a new article on the removal of books from the fine arts library at UT-Austin and the planned movement of books from the libraries at UW-Madison [Article Here]. The tales of these two libraries is an increasingly familiar one, wherein thousands of books are deaccessioned or moved into off-site... Continue Reading →
This week (September 25-October 1, 2016) is banned books week. Over on the Forbes Blog, I discuss the import of celebrating the freedom to read any book that we want. This is despite the fact that written works continue to be censored and removed from public libraries even today. I discuss just a few of the works that were burned,... Continue Reading →
Anyone who has ever written a book, article, course advertisement, blogpost, or conference paper knows the mental agony that accompanies the completion of this task. It is not enough to write a great book; we must next sell our work with a clever title. We are told that "sexy" titles lure the elusive reader, student, or conference participant to our work. It... Continue Reading →
Pliny the Elder remarks on a conflict that arose between King Eumenes of Pergamum and Ptolemy V, the Egyptian pharaoh, around 191 BCE. The naturalist notes the regal rivalry in his section on writing materials from the ancient world (NH 13.21). During an epic battle to build each other's libraries bigger and faster (would that this... Continue Reading →
History From Below 